Book cover



1941- J. v. CAVALERO 2,262,796

BOOK COVER Filed Sept. 6, 1940 INVENTOR.

JOHN V. CAVALERO.

Paul ATM A Woe/v05 Patented Nov. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOOK COVER John V. Cavalero, Bloomfield, N. J.

Application September 6, 1940, Serial No. 355,593

6 Claims.

My invention relates to a cover for books and particularly to an outside cover of relatively stiff material in a single piece to form the front and back as well as the back bone or edge facing of the book covering the binding, and has among its purposes and objects to provide:

An integral piece of outside covering material secured to a flexible integral member to provide hinges to the back bone and binding by removing strips of the outside cover at each cover hinge.

A book cover of relatively stiff material having strips .of said cover removed at the hinges to provide flexibility at the hinges.

A book cover having a common design, pattern or markings, such as pearl or other texture markings kept in register by removing strips between the front and back cover and the back bone.

A book cover in which the front, back and back bone are separated from an integral piece by removing a pair of strips, one of said strips being removed from each side of the back bone.

A means of providing a flexible hinge to a stiff cover for books by removing strips of the material of the cover from the flexible material to which it is secured at the hinges.

I accomplish these and the other objects by the construction herein set forth and disclosed and illustrated by the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the outside cover broken away to show the flexible member to which it is secured.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the outside cover of relatively stiff material scored to provide removable strips in which one of the strips is partially removed.

Fig, 3 is a perspective view of a book in its finished form having a tooled cover in which the tooling is kept in register with the back of the book by the removal of strips between the back and front and the back bone.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the book showing its construction after the removal of the strips.

Figs. 5, 6, and '7 are fragmentary transverse sections of modifications of bindings showing some of the applications of my cover.

I am aware that books are constructed with substantially stiff fronts, backs and back bones in which each of these parts is a separate piece secured to the other parts of the bindings of the book. Such book bindings are not only expensive because of the operations required in the assembling of the several parts but the patterns .or markings of the several parts do not match, i. e.: are not in register with each other.

By my invention, beautiful pearl or other covers and their markings are not only kept in exact register by being constructed of a single piece of material secured to a flexible member, but time and the operations of assembling the cover are reduced to a minimum yet producing a superior product both as to appearance and serviceability.

It is not my purpose in this disclosure to show the many ways books are bound or to illustrate how my cover may be secured to the numerous book binding constructions except to illustrate its application to a few typical examples. After a study of this disclosure by one skilled in the art to which it pertains, modifications will be apparent without departing from the underlying principles of my invention which are embodied in the construction herein described in detail.

Referring to the drawing, similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views, and in the specification to follow, like characters refer to these parts.

The outside cover I may be of a variety of materials including celluloid, plastics, and sheet material, as well as Wood and veneer, imitation pearl and natural and treated sheets, leather and leaves, etc. The cover, however, is cut or formed to the desired size and shape between its marginal edges 2 and may be curved, printed and decorated, tooled, carved, or finished as desired, at the time of applying the scores or cuts 3, 4, 5, and 6,'or the scoring may be done before or after the finishing or processing of the cover. Before the strips 1 or 8 are removed from between said scores, however, the cover is permanently secured to the flexible member 9 except where the strips 1 or 8 are to be removed.

The securing of the cover to its flexible member may be done by adhesives, cement or other securement l0, and the flexible member may be of the same size between its marginal edges as the cover or may be of suflicient size only to secure the front II, back bone l2, and back l3, each to the other after removing the strips 1 and 8 from said flexible member 9 and from the edges provided by said scores in the integral cover I.

Thus it will be seen that the front ll, back bone l2, and back l3, as well as the strips 1 and 8 are one integral part until and after securement to the flexible member 9 and that by removing the strips 1 and 8 the cover is divided into three parts which still remain secured to the flexible member and two of which are removed. I

The position of the scores and spaces l4 and [5 caused by removing the strips, is determined by the thickness of the book and the hinges IB and I1 formed by the flexible member or so secured toit or the cover as to provide room forv the hingesito operate.

In Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown the cover I as made of imitation pearl in which the material is shown as having the irregular markings of the pearl such as are peculiar to pearl shells, and in Fig. 2, one of the strips 8 is partially removed from the flexible member 9 and the cover I.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 7, the cover I is shown as formed or disked to present a convex outer surface and the back bone is curved to conform to .the back of the binding. The front and back covers maybe also printed with a design IE or may be embossed or tooled with grooves I 9 as shown in Fig. 3, or otherwise formed or decorated, in addition to the natural or simulated markings of the material used for the cover. Wood and its natural grain may be used. and when scored and the strips removed, the grain .inthe front, back bone and back will match in perfect register.

The manner of securing the flexible member to the binding or leaves 20 of the book may vary to suit the book .as desired. In some cases, the flexible member may be secured to the leaves, the outermost of which may serve as an inner facing 2| secured to the entire inner surface of the flexible member and to the flexible hinge 22 as shown in Fig. 5 or may be secured to the edges, leaving a space between the center of the flexible member and the binding leaves as shown in Fig. 4, or to-the back surface of the binding as shown in fragmentary detail in Fig. 7.

match the finish of the three separated parts.

2. In a book cover, an outside cover comprising a front, a back and a backbone of a single integral piece of material and a flexible member .of like dimensions secured thereto, said outside cover scored toprovide removable strips at the hinges of the cover and separating the front and back from the backbone of the cover to perfectly match the finish of the three separated parts,

- In Fig. 6, Ihave shown the flexible member 9? as serving as the hinge and secured only to the covers and back bone vnear the hinge. Many other constructions of the hinge and binding may be secured to the flexible member 9 or 9' as may best serve the book binder and the grade or quality of binding desired.

While theoutside cover may be a single integral-piece of material, in some cases a number of layers or laminations which may be secured to each other. and to the flexible member, and in such cases the relatively stiff layers only may be scored and the pair of strips removed to provide the necessary flexibility for the front and back to. swing in relation to the back bone and the binding, etc., of the book.

I have illustrated and described in detail the constructionof my cover so that it may be better understood, but do not wish to be limited to the details as I may wish to depart therefrom within the scope of the appended claims which set forth my invention.

said flexible member permitting the cover to be moved on its hinges after removing said strips and lining the inside of said cover and said backbone.

3. Ina cover. for books, having outside covers and a backbone of stifi material, a flexible member secured thereto, said backbone being of the same material and finish as said outside covers and two pairs of scores between the cover and said backbone, said backbone being separated from said covers by removing a strip of said material between each pair of scores and detaching each strip from said flexible member.

4. In a book cover, a plurality of layers of the same size secured to each other comprising inflexible parts and a flexible member secured to the other parts forming one of said layers, said inflexible parts scored to form a pair of strips removable from said flexible member to separate the parts into a front and back cover and a backbone and to permit them to swing in relation to each other.

5. In a book cover comprising laminations of stiff and flexible material, said laminations of tions into three parts to form a front and back cover and a backbone, each swingable in relation to the other, said flexible lamination serving to hinge the stiff laminations to each other and to provide an inner lining for said book cover.

6. In a book cover comprising laminations of stiff and flexible material, said laminations of stiff material scored and partly severed to provide a pair of removable strips removable from said flexible laminations, thereby separating said stiff laminations into three parts to form a front and back cover anda back bone each swingable in relation to the other and a book and its bind.- ing secured to said flexible laminations, said flexible laminations lining said cover and backbone on its inside surface and providing hinges for said covers.

JOHN V. CAVALERO. 

